


All's Fair

by Taliax



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Kitty Love Zine: A Marichat Zine, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Mario Kart, Mouse Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Multimouse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27367825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliax/pseuds/Taliax
Summary: According to Marinette, all's fair in love and Mario Kart.  Chat Noir is determined to test that theory.Multimouse/Chat Noir for the Kitty Love Zine volume 2
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 43
Kudos: 390





	All's Fair

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in... March? Anyway it's been a while so if the writing seems a bit older that's why haha. Hope you still enjoy!

"HA! You snooze, you lose, Chat!"

“Now you’re just showing off,” Adrien grumbled from Marinette’s desk chair as her—well, Multimouse’s—kart passed him. One of her karts, anyway. The Princess Peach she was controlling bounced across the giant mushrooms as her Rosalina and Daisy tag-teamed his Yoshi with two green shells.

“You’re the one who wanted to test my powers,” the one of her sitting on his left shoulder teased. 

“Haven’t you ever watched Tom and Jerry?” another Multimouse chimed in while crossing the finish line. Her victory noise mingled with the sounds of late night traffic outside. “Mice always outsmart a kitty.”

He pouted while crossing seconds behind her. A new record—this time he’d only been beaten by two of her three avatars. The Multimice driving Rosalina had fumbled their too-large Wii remote while drifting around the last turn. 

“Dang it,” they muttered.

“I guess you can’t be perfect _all_ the time,” he teased. “I’m not sure it counts though. You only lost because the controller is too big.”

Yet that wasn’t stopping the rest of her from kicking his butt, even playing as three separate characters. She’d been right—she didn’t need practice with her powers. Was there anything Marinette wasn’t good at?

“All’s fair in love and Mario Kart.” She shrugged. “Besides, you need all the victories you can get.”

The Multimouse on his other shoulder grinned and poked his cheek. She hadn’t been so willing to roast him while playing Ultimate Mecha Strike with “Adrien” before. He wasn’t sure if it was confidence from her new superpowers, or just that she felt more comfortable with Chat after their few weeks of training together.

“Love and Mario Kart, huh?” He grinned back as the game automatically began counting down to the last race of the Mushroom Cup—Toad’s Factory. “Which one of those are we talking about here?”

To his surprise, two of her three karts stalled at the starting line as his blasted off.

“Dumb cat,” she muttered from his shoulder. 

At risk of getting smashed by the course, he snuck a glance at her. A pink blush dusted her tiny cheeks.

Was his joking actually having an effect on her? No, it couldn’t. She (unfortunately) didn’t have a crush on Chat Noir anymore.

But if his attempts at flirting were distracting… all _was_ fair in love and Mario Kart.

“What? Did you _fall_ for me again?” He teased, and one of the Multimice controlling Daisy lifted the remote too high, sending her careening into the water.

“The only one who’s going to fall here is _you,”_ she threatened, making Rosalina launch a red shell at him. 

Yoshi yelped as he too skidded off the track, but Adrien couldn’t bring himself to mind. He grinned at the duplicate sitting on his shoulder.

“More and more every day, Princess.”

That was less of a joke and more of an _accidental confession,_ but hopefully she would be too focused on beating him to notice.

Or not. Rosalina and Daisy crashed into boxes. Princess Peach mired herself in a mudpit. For the first time since they’d started the grand prix, Adrien blew past all three of her characters.

“I swear, Chat,” one Multimouse from the table began ominously as her duplicates scrambled to right their remotes, “if you just said that to distract me, I’m going to make you regret it.”

“So you’d rather I said it for real?”

He bit his tongue. Stupid, stupid. Maybe he could wear his heart on his sleeve for Ladybug—she was used to it, and he was used to being rejected in turn—but Marinette? Marinette, who didn’t have to spend her precious time with him, let him into her home, joke like they’d been friends forever?

He couldn’t bear to lose her. But his stupid mouth had never learned to stay shut.

Six Multimice stood on the desk, and not one looked at him. Even the two on his shoulders were silent as a… no, no puns now.

Her karts stayed on the road this time. 

“I retract my earlier statement,” she huffed. “All is not fair in love _or_ Mario Kart.”

His heart sunk to his feet. He didn’t care when the NPCs blew past him, when he got smashed by the course, when one of Marinette’s karts completely lapped him. Her miraculous’ warning beep sounded, but it hardly mattered; she’d win before her Multitude wore off.

“Chat.”

...Unless she paused the game.

“I just red shelled you.”

He shrugged before remembering she could lose her balance. She didn’t, but only because the two on his shoulders grabbed his collar. Heat spread across the sliver of skin she brushed.

“You’re… what’s wrong?” She asked from his left, staring up at him in confusion. 

She… didn’t realize he’d meant it? A wave of embarrassment washed over him. If he’d played it cool, like he did with Ladybug, he might’ve been able to recover from his failed flirting attempt.

But this was _Marinette._ What she thought of him mattered. Even if “him” in this case was his superhero persona and wouldn’t affect their civilian friendship, he couldn’t have her think he’d flirt with her and not mean it.

“Sorry.” He shook his head with a rueful smile. “I wasn’t trying to distract you. Well, I was, but—I wasn’t _just_ trying to distract you.”

“What?” Her breath hitched.

“If I did say it for real… that I was falling for you…” He swallowed before meeting her eyes. “What would you say?”

She clung tighter to his collar. 

“I—I would— _why?”_

He blinked. 

_(“No, Chat, I’ve already given up on you.”)_

_(“I’m in love with Luka. You’re just a friend.”)_

_(“Yes! I’ve already got our kids’ and hamster’s names picked out.”)_

Any of those responses he might have expected—okay, not that last one—but asking “ _why?”_

“Because—why would I not? You’re _incredible,_ Marinette.” 

Her necklace beeped again as her tiny head tilted sideways. “You, hero of Paris with a face that every girl in the city drools over, thinks _I’m_ incredible?”

A choked noise came out of his mouth. Sure, he was used to unreasonable amounts of attention in his civilian life, but hearing Marinette in particular say it so matter-of-factly about Chat set his face burning.

“You can dish it out but can’t take it, huh?” She grinned.

“Y-you’re a hero of Paris too, you know.” He flicked the speck of a pendant at her neck.

“Not really. You know Ladybug’s never going to put me in the field again, and—you’re dodging the question!”

“About how incredible I think you are? I could talk about that for hours, Princess.” He winked. She hadn’t turned him down yet. That had to count for something, right?

“I can’t believe you,” she muttered through her hands. 

“Then let me tell you until you do,” he said, though he knew that wasn’t what she meant. “And you still haven’t answered _my_ question. Do you… I know I turned you down when you confessed to me the first time, but if you’ll forgive how stupid I was… would you…?”

“What about Ladybug?” She interrupted. “Won’t she be jealous?”

Adrien laughed. “She doesn’t like me like that, no matter what your ladyblogger friend thinks. She’s made it clear enough times, and even if I’ll always love her, I know it’s time I let go.”

“I think you’d be surprised,” she mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Nothing! Sorry, I’m just—I didn’t expect you to ever— _yes!”_

He wasn’t entirely sure what she was saying yes to, considering he hadn’t strung enough coherent words together to technically ask her out. And he didn’t know how dating her as Chat would work, anyway. _Wow,_ he did not think this through, even if he regretted absolutely nothing because she said _yes she said YES!_

The two Multimice on his shoulders leaned in and simultaneously kissed his cheeks, and he effectively melted into a puddle of goo. He barely heard the beep from her miraculous—

Then a full-sized Marinette was sitting in his lap, blinking up at him with a mortified expression.

He couldn’t help it. He burst out cackling, only quieting when he remembered that her sleeping parents might hear.

“Shut up!” She smacked his chest lightly. “It’s not funny!”

“Admit it, Marinette, it’s _hiss-_ terical.”

She bit her lip, but her cheeks puffed with suppressed laughter. Mullo took one look between them before deciding it was best to leave them alone.

“Don’t make me take it back, kitty.”

“Too late. No returns, no refunds.” He hugged her as giddy energy coursed through him. She _liked_ him!

“Hm. I guess it _would_ be rude to dump a stray out on the street.”

“Definitely.” He nuzzled her shoulder.

Marinette giggled. “So… I guess we’re not finishing that Mario Kart tournament. Unless you want to share some of Plagg’s cheese with Mullo?”

“Nah. Besides, I already won anyway.”

“Excuse you, you were going to _lose_ anyway.”

“Doesn’t look that way from where I’m sitting.” He grinned and hugged her tighter. “After all, all’s fair in love and Mario Kart.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the amazing art by @kudaranaikyo that went with this in the zine!  
> https://kudaranaikyo.tumblr.com/post/635256058409025536/heres-the-piece-that-i-contributed-to


End file.
